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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be gutted at losing my benefit

491 replies

Clappingforjoy · 03/12/2020 19:05

I am going to inherit some money from sale of parents house and have told universal credit to close my claim but I'm gutted about it.
I have always struggled never had 2 Penny's to rub together and it just so happens I will go over the 16000 mark with this money and know i must sound greedy but my income is very low and i am scared this money will all go on living costs.

OP posts:
SchrodingersImmigrant · 03/12/2020 22:40

@Mrgrinch

Can everyone please stop giving advice on how to break the law. I've flagged it with MN as I think it should be against talk guidelines.
Agreed. There are really reasonable suggestions on how to spend it to make OP's life better, these should stay. Like therapy, business, courses, reliable car.
justgeton · 03/12/2020 22:40

@rockhopper20

and the reason why people can save even while working is not that people like the OP get a freebie but as I said because taxes now go to subsidize the rich. And am not a crazy leftie - plenty of mainstream economists agree with that.

But people have retained this idea that the reason why they dont have more cash is because of some other poor bloke who is getting something they are not. No the reason why working people dont have cash is because they are subsidizing the rich which is indeed quite an expensive pursuit

Oh, so we're not all paying taxes to pay for all the benefit fraud and those who choose not to work?!

OP I am NOT referring to you, just responding to this lemon

sansou · 03/12/2020 22:41

£26K could be life changing not in a lottery win sense but it could certainly fund training/counselling and create a pathway to more opportunities for the OP to improve her quality of life whether it is to improve her health or expand her skill set for potential new jobs.

It would take the average salary person years to save that amount! I realise that you have received your inheritance in sad circumstances but what better use of your legacy than to utilise it positively for the future. Don't focus on the negative!

Babyroobs · 03/12/2020 22:41

@Mrgrinch

Can everyone please stop giving advice on how to break the law. I've flagged it with MN as I think it should be against talk guidelines.
Agreed - it's shocking and will get op into trouble if she tries some of the things suggested.
NewlyGranny · 03/12/2020 22:41

Put the lump sum into a pension. I did that with an inheritance and it's grown better than any savings account!

thelake · 03/12/2020 22:44

@lokiOdinson what?! You basically have decided not to work and claim benefits instead? Is this serious?

justgeton · 03/12/2020 22:44

@NewlyGranny

Put the lump sum into a pension. I did that with an inheritance and it's grown better than any savings account!
Is this allowed?! Grow a pension while claiming benefits?!

Shocked

ElizabethG81 · 03/12/2020 22:48

Pension contributions while on UC or TC are encouraged, as evidenced by the full relief that is given for them. If they didn't want people to do it, there'd be no relief given for the contributions.

DoubleTweenQueen · 03/12/2020 22:49

@Clappingforjoy I understand your mixed emotions about this, but hope you will be able to work through it and use this money to make your life more comfortable. Some good suggestions here. Hope you can make it work for you - it’s a good amount of money if used wisely. Best of luck x

Guylan · 03/12/2020 22:49

[quote rockhopper20]@timeforanewstart actually that's not automatically true. Now thats clearly what both the government and multinationals would like you to think so that we are too scared of raising the minimum wage. But over the last twenty year we have had the biggest increase in the assets owned by the 1% and the deepest impoverishment of the working people. This was not even the case in the 1990s so it's not ancient history.

Over the last two decades, we have had an unprecedented transfer of capital from the public purse (i.e. your taxes) into private hands. I.e. taxe payers are now subsidizing the rich rather than the poor from housing to wages to health care to nursing care etc.[/quote]
Again agree. I have heard some use the line our current economic order follows capitalism for the poor and socialism for the rich. Quantitative easing after the 2008 crash pumped so much money into banks and the financial markets. The wealthy used this extra money to buy up more assets which in the U.K. is often housing which in turn increased house prices in London and the south east. This is happening again during this pandemic.

midsummabreak · 03/12/2020 22:52

How old is your son? Can you put it in savings and gift it to him one day, for example when he is 25, and help him to buy a house ?

LokiOdinson · 03/12/2020 22:53

[quote thelake]@lokiOdinson what?! You basically have decided not to work and claim benefits instead? Is this serious?[/quote]
did you read anything I said or did you just zone in on the one sentence? I have arthritis, severe fibromyalgia, severe psoriasis treated with immunosuppressants, clinical depression, anxiety, OCD and ADHD. If I had to work I would have absolutely no quality of life but yes, I could do it if forced, as many disabled people who are forced to work despite not having the ability to do it do but shouldn't have to to be considered a worthy member of society.

Fr0thandBubble · 03/12/2020 22:55

OP people like you give me a massive rage. Your sense of entitlement to other people’s hard-earned money is unbelievable.

ricecookie · 03/12/2020 22:58

@Guylan absolutely, but as this thread has shown people are still happier to jump on the bandwagon of look a poor person has a bit of cash than think about the bigger picture.

@justgeton - the reason why this is allowed is that if people don't have a pension then the taxpayers will be paying for them once they are old. That's why it's allowed because essentially it's cheaper that way and not because the government is being nice

ricecookie · 03/12/2020 23:00

@justgeton the amount of money that taxpayers are paying out due to benefit fraud is a drop in the ocean in comparison to the cash that taxpayers are paying out to large businesses in order to prop them up.

yellowcatss · 03/12/2020 23:00

the rules is correct i as a net taxpayer dont want to pay benefits to people that have a lot of money in savings i dont get a penny in benefit and dont have 16,000 in benefits.

thelake · 03/12/2020 23:01

Going to be harsh, but if someone chooses to work part time, has little esucation and training so can only get Minimum wage jobs then they will be poor and have to accept this lifestyle. You've got an inheritance to buffer you and when that buffet runs low you can top up with the benefits. I really don't understand why it isn't possible to live on £900 a month and if not to earn extra by working more. I I had that income then I would rent a room in a shared house, not a whole flat. That would bring costs down. I would eat simple meals and not have expensive hobbies.

justgeton · 03/12/2020 23:02

[quote ricecookie]@justgeton the amount of money that taxpayers are paying out due to benefit fraud is a drop in the ocean in comparison to the cash that taxpayers are paying out to large businesses in order to prop them up.[/quote]
And to people who don't need benefits.

Mosell · 03/12/2020 23:02

@Fr0thandBubble

OP people like you give me a massive rage. Your sense of entitlement to other people’s hard-earned money is unbelievable.
OP has shared she has conditions that make working full time v difficult. As I wrote above, it is perfectly legal for a family to set up a discretionary trust to leave any inheritance for family members who cannot work full time or at all. This way they can keep their benefits and have access to money from the trust. Would you be angry with the OP if her family had done it this way? I think it is entirely reasonable when people are unable to work full time due to no fault of their own.
Sinful8 · 03/12/2020 23:03

@Waxonwaxoff0

YANBU. It's shit. You'll get people on here telling you "if you've got savings you don't need benefits" but then it means people on benefits are never able to better themselves.

I am on the old style working tax credits which didn't take savings into account so I was able to save up and buy a house meaning I no longer need to claim housing benefit which I was getting before. I feel sorry for people on UC who won't get this opportunity.

How do you think that?

16k is enough to pay the upfront costs of pretty much anything to "better yourself".

I don't think its particularly fair to expect everyone else to buy you a house because you choose to not improve your earning potential

Mrgrinch · 03/12/2020 23:03

@LokiOdinson did you read anything I said or did you just zone in on the one sentence? I have arthritis, severe fibromyalgia, severe psoriasis treated with immunosuppressants, clinical depression, anxiety, OCD and ADHD. If I had to work I would have absolutely no quality of life but yes, I could do it if forced, as many disabled people who are forced to work despite not having the ability to do it do but shouldn't have to to be considered a worthy member of society.

But you didn't say any of that. You literally said that you could work but you choose not to.

OldAndWornOut · 03/12/2020 23:03

It's not as if the op has secretly stashed away money each week in order to build up savings.

LokiOdinson · 03/12/2020 23:05

@thelake OP has stated that it isn't a choice. Do you really think everybody on benefits is out here with expensive hobbies eating at the Ritz every night or something? This whole thing about "poor people should live within their means" leads to people lambasting anybody who's broke who dares to get something that's considered a "luxury". They're still people. Everybody deserves happiness in their lives, ffs, even if it means saving up and splashing out on something big occasionally.

thelake · 03/12/2020 23:05

@mrgrinch are you not able to work at all? I think a lifetime of not working or having a career must contribute to a feeling of depression.

justgeton · 03/12/2020 23:05

I find this just awful. The whole thread.

I completely agree that we need a net to catch those who find themselves in need of help, through no fault of their own. Anything different would take us back to the workhouses. God forbid

But to have more savings in the bank than those that work in low paid jobs? That struggle? That bust a gut to keep their families warm and fed and still claim they need help??

No. Never